


Abyss after Cindered Shadows

by Dragoncat (Dragoncat1991)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Lore - Freeform, Non Story, White Flames AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29643366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoncat1991/pseuds/Dragoncat
Summary: A collection of headcanons on how the Abyss operates after Cindered Shadows and fits into my White Flames verse.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Abyss after Cindered Shadows

**Leadership after Aelfric**

Yuri eventually comes back, whether the other three Ashen Wolves do with him is up to interpretation, although I say Balthus and Constance leave to restore House Nuvelle and Hapi stays. The Abyss needs him. Under him, they start to repurpose the "creepy dolls" as emergency security and station armed guards at checkpoints in the tunnels. Able bodied adults are given jobs such as hunting, gathering, tunnel upkeep, being a guard, and working with surface merchants/shopping. Children can help their parents sometimes.

**Food, Drink, and Barter**

The Abyss people don't eat a lot, they live on smoked meat from whatever animals they can catch and they have mushroom farms. The damp mustiness of the Abyss is perfect for growing edible mushrooms. Food from the surface is imported via shopping and trading. Some merchants work with them and will accept payment in small amounts of gold or crystals/gems that can be found in the Abyss. Some farmers donate surplus produce so it can get eaten before it rots. Cheese and candied fruits are highly sought after as treats. Bread is never accepted because it can grow dangerous mold very easily in the same conditions good for the mushrooms.

The canals are used for toileting, so the water in them is not drank. Instead, wells were placed at the above ground tunnel exits and water is transported from there.

**Politics**

There are unofficial Abyss "nobles". These are the people who are in charge of certain sections and certain aspects of society. My headcanon for them is as follows:

Underlord Yuri: Main leader.

Farm Boss Hapi: Oversees the mushroom farms.

Abysskeeper Halvor: The leader of the tunnel guards. He appears in canon as of course Abysskeeper.

Head Medic Cybele: She appears in canon as "Mysterious Woman", turned out she knew a thing or two about medicine, but she has her limits.

Professor Wystan: He's in charge of the Shadow Library, recordkeeping/general scholarly duties, and he's also the one who operates and maintains the golems.

Huntress Vanna: Leads the hunters/gatherers.

Council meetings happen bimonthly. The nobles generally have more gold than everyone else and are able to purchase mildly expensive clothing, food, and weapons, but the gap between them and Abyss commoners isn't as obvious as the gap between surface nobles and commoners. All adult residents are allowed to vote on most issues and policies.

**Values, Appearance, and Population**

Abyss was once a place for outcasts of society and not much else. Today, it is still a safe haven, but it has become its own society, made up of tough, self sufficient people who value a simple life. Many of these people place higher value on food than money, give an Abyss person a cheese wheel and a candied apple as a gift and you will gain a friend for life.

You can usually recognize an Abyss person by looking at them, they are often wirey, skinny, and agile. They have the habit of scurrying like rats or mice when they are chased or threatened, ducking and weaving back and forth, to and from shadows, in a zig zag motion. This is taught to them at a young age as a survival skill. They often wear simple, cheap clothes and they don't have easy access to bathing facilities so they often just take quick sponge baths in ponds or creeks when they come to the surface.

Abyss men who have a surplus of food are considered highly attractive. Women are drawn to the guy who can say he caught enough meat and gathered enough edible plants to last him a month. Abyss women who can hold their own in fights and who are healthy overall are considered attractive. The conditions they live in are rough for pregnancy, so a man who's good at getting food and a tough hardy woman have the best chance of producing a child that survives to adulthood. Roughly only a quarter of children conceived make it past toddler age. Miscarriages and infant death happen, but the population of Abyss is stable and comparable to that of a medium town. 

People tend to practice “free love”, preferring short flings over long commitments. Children are communally raised and tend to leave their mothers’ care during their late teens but will of course keep in contact. Some bond with their fathers as well. While the concept of marriage isn’t foreign, it’s considered a surface thing or a rich person thing.


End file.
